George W. Bush insider vies to become youngest congresswoman

The dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on a sunny morning in Dallas in April 2013 was a chance for dozens of ex-White House staffers to catch up with old friends. For Elise Stefanik, one of the Republican Party’s fastest-rising female stars, it was that plus something more: an opportunity to plant her next career step with one of the best-connected networks in politics.

A little more than a year later, Stefanik has executed an impressive about-face, outwardly putting distance between her candidacy for New York’s sprawling 21st Congressional District and the Bush network, even as it has marshaled millions of dollars on her behalf.

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She’s now running as a disruptive outsider returning to upstate New York to shake things up after years of observing broken Washington. Her campaign slogan promises “New Ideas. New Leadership,” while the 30-year-old candidate herself says she feels voters’ hunger to bring a new generation, her own, to power in Washington.

“I am running to reenergize the district and bring a fresh perspective,” she said in an interview.

And yet, Stefanik’s campaign has the distinct feel of having been anointed by the party establishment it lambastes. Six well-placed years in Washington have equipped her with the contacts and deep-pocketed backers few, if any, of her peers can match.

Stefanik has emerged as one of the GOP’s most highly touted candidates of 2014, particularly given the party’s struggle to attract young, diverse talent. It’s no wonder. Her credentials — she helped write the Republican National Committee’s 2012 platform and prepped Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for his vice presidential debate — and poise on the stump are unusual for a first-time candidate. And then there’s the fact that she would be the youngest woman from either party ever elected to the House of Representatives.

“She is a young, ‘big tent’ kind of Republican who has the capacity to reach out beyond the core voters,” said Josh Bolton, who worked closely with Stefanik as Bush’s last chief of staff. “I think a lot of people in the party see in Elise a person who can be part of a cadre of new Republicans in politics who will expand our base.”

For now, Stefanik appears to be successfully toeing the line between insider and outsider. She shrugged off accusations of carpetbagging to defeat her GOP primary opponent, Matt Doheny, by 21 points in late June. And attempts by her Democratic opponent, documentary filmmaker Aaron Woolf, to tie Stefanik to Washington dysfunction have thus far gained little traction. The race is one of this year’s most competitive House contests in the nation.

The question is, can Stefanik have it both ways?

A newbie to the district

Stefanik had few ties to the 21st when she moved into her family’s Lake Champlain vacation home there in November 2012. She had grown up some 15 miles south of the district, in Albany, and had been away from New York for nearly a decade.

She would spend the better part of a year quickly making up for it.

Stefanik went to work for her family’s plywood supply business, traversing the district making sales calls and deliveries. She quietly met with local GOP leaders and former candidates, seeking advice and hearing their ideas. By the time she officially entered the race last August, Stefanik had built from scratch a local network of GOP support to complement the one she already enjoyed nationally.

A year later, those same leaders say Stefanik has united the district’s conservatives, something that other candidates have been unable to do since the party lost power there in 2009. Eleven of the 12 GOP county committees endorsed her ahead of the primary, and in the county that did not, Stefanik won the majority of voters’ support, anyway.

“The past elections have been more divisive than cohesive, and I think that is where she is coming in: She is healing those divisions and bringing the people together,” said Doug Hoffman, a Lake Placid businessman who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Bill Owens, the Democratic incumbent, in 2009 and 2010.

Ray Scollin, the chairman of the Franklin County Republican Committee, said Stefanik’s age likely has something to do with it. The district — encompassing 16,000 square miles and the entirety of the Adirondack Park — has struggled economically in recent years. Tighter border security with Canada has slowed trade, and many residents lack broadband Internet access. Scollin and his GOP colleagues say Stefanik’s energy and easy grasp of policy offer a fresh start.

“It is hard not to just take the intangibles and say, ‘Wow, this is a breath of fresh air,’” said Jan Plumadore, a former member of the New York State Supreme Court who closely monitors Republican politics there.

Stefanik, who stresses her small-business experience on the trail, is running on a platform not that different from the one she helped co-author for the Republican National Convention in 2012: the repeal of Obamacare, a simplified tax code, less regulation and protection of military spending — in this case, jobs at Fort Drum, the district’s largest employer.

But those who worked closely with Stefanik at the White House and during her years in making policy say she’s more conservative in temperament than ideology.

“I don’t think anybody is going to mistake her for an ideologue, but at the same time, she is motivated by conservative views about the right solutions for the people she grew up with,” said Joel Kaplan, who was Stefanik’s direct superior during his time as Bush’s deputy chief of staff and remains a close friend.

Stefanik’s views on abortion and contraception, more outwardly conservative than those of many women her age, may provide a good example. While she earned the endorsement and financial backing of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List and identifies as “pro-life,” Stefanik says her party needs to be more understanding of differing views on the issue.